Launch your own merchandise

Before starting, make sure your brand rocks

Merchandising isn’t just a revenue stream, but a way to engage your fans. They get to support your channel not just financially, but by representing you -- and their membership in your community -- anywhere they go. Before you consider launching merch, you first need to build up your brand. Then, think about your strategy: what you want to sell, how you plan to produce and distribute it, and then how to promote it to further engage your fans.

How do you know if your brand is strong? Here are a few points to think about:

Brand recognition. Check your analytics traffic sources Search Term results to find out what your audience is saying about you on YouTube. Use Google Trends to see how much buzz your channel is generating on social media and blogs. The volume of search activity associated with your brand or channel name is a strong indicator of how well-known it is.

Brand identity. Think about what you want your designs to look like. You can leverage your established name and personality with your existing channel brand. Or, if you plan to broaden what your offerings down the road, you can create a new brand to extend your reach beyond your core subscribers.

Incorporate yourself. It’s important to check whether the name you’re conducting business with is available across the web and on social media networks that are important to your community. Having a “business” also helps brands be able to cut a check to a business. Have you trademarked the name of your channel? Do you own a domain name? Consult a lawyer if you have questions about the laws associated with establishing and protecting your brand across countries.

AsapSCIENCE used their channel’s success to launch a book that answers the world’s weirdest science questions. The book includes chapters based on subjects tackled on the channel, as well as, exciting new topics.

Hannah Hart developed her initial channel concept from MyDrunkKitchen into Harto in order to encompass her first show, Camp Takota, and other areas she’s branched off to.

Step 1: Map your merchandise strategy

Once you’ve nailed down your brand strategy, it’s time to decide what to sell. These products will represent your channel and brand, so think carefully about your merchandise strategy from brand to products to distribution and profit.

Keep it relevant. Do research to learn if there's a market for your product. You can ask yourself:

Does your audience want this?

Is it unique to your brand?

Start slow. Test your audience’s appetite for your merchandise. Consider what kind of merchandise you want to offer and for how long you’ll want to offer it.

Keep it focused. Introduce one product/design at a time. Ask your audience what products they’re into, or what type of designs they want to see (maybe you can even hold a design competition!)

Make sure it’s easy to sustain. Not all products are easy or cost-efficient to find and make (and you’ll want to keep up with your audience’s requests.)

Make it extra special. Think about launching merch to celebrate hitting a million fans or other specific milestones.

ChooChoosGaming showcases the speed art design of their limited-edition January T-shirt collection.

Step 2: Bring your merchandise to life

If you want merchandising to become a core part of your business, make sure to have a good handle on the costs, processes, and time commitments. Let’s break this down:

Budget and pricing. When you’re first starting out, an important thing to consider is how much you want to invest. Set a clear budget by researching the costs associated with production and shipping. You’ll want to price your products based on your desired profit per item.

Distribution. You’ll need a way to track your inventory -- so decide whether you want to make everything in-house or use an approved company to manage design and distribution. Check your Demographics report to find out where your primary audience lives, so you can offer products your audiences want, and they can be sold or shipped to where your viewers are.

Design and production. Choose designs that can appeal to your target audience -- check your Demographics report for guidance. Identify companies that can produce your merchandise at the quality, timing, and quantity you need; it’s always smart to ask for recommendations from people you trust. Requesting samples from the vendor can help ensure you’re getting what you expect.

Step 3: Market your merchandise

To ensure a successful merchandise launch, make sure your community is excited about the product and willing to pay for it. Here are some ways you can promote your merchandise:

Involve your audience. Many creators find it helps to include their audience in the design, production, and distribution processes for their merchandise. Your community will feel more invested if you ask them for suggestions and incorporate their feedback.

Create videos. Talk about your merch while wearing or displaying it (try to get samples ahead of time). You can make regular videos or offer behind-the-scenes glimpses to build up anticipation about the design and production process. After your merchandise is available, reward your top contributors by featuring them modelling your merchandise.

Publicize the launch by sharing everywhere. Promote your product as much as possible and make sure all of your fans know it’s is available. Consider announcing the release with an original video that shows off your new products.

Share all relevant links. Make your merch easy for fans to find. Remember to add strong calls to action telling your audience where they can buy it. You can use cards, annotations, and descriptions to link to sites that sell your merch.

Use images to showcase your merchandise. Images tend to get higher click-through rates.

Keep the momentum up. Maintain momentum by continuing to feature your product in videos well after launch. You can help your audience feel as though they’re a part of your accomplishments by celebrating important milestones, such as the first hundred (or thousand!) sales.

See it in action

Ben promotes his T-shirt launch by taking viewers behind the scenes to the office where his line is being printed. The vlog concludes by showing him unboxing and modeling the newest men’s colors and designs.

At the end of his videos, Tyler Oakley features a person of the week wearing items from his apparel collection.

Follow up

How do you know when you’re ready to launch merchandise?

The simplest way to know whether you’re ready to launch merchandise is to assess whether there’s demand. Listen to your fans’ comments and requests: Are they already asking for merchandise? Are they very engaged with your content? Find out how strong your brand presence is -- explore the keywords used to find your videos (found by clicking YouTube Search in your Traffic sources report) and Google Trends to see if your brand is generating a lot of search activity.

How can you effectively promote merchandise on your channel?

To effectively promote your merchandise, make sure you engage your audience early in the process. When your product’s ready, announce the release and include strong calls to action through annotations, information cards and links in the description. After launch, keep up the momentum by sharing key milestones and featuring your community.